Soft Pants, Baking, and Comfort Food

After an early morning yoga class and my typical Monday errands, I happily climbed into my comfies for an afternoon at home.

My mom signed me up for Thanksgiving baking, so I spent yesterday searching for new recipes to try. My parents are leaving for New York next weekend so I figured I could bake cookies ahead of time, freeze them, and they could drive them out.

My first batch was a seasonal cake-like cookie full of delicious pumpkin and sweet butterscotch chips.

I was so excited to bake that I brought out the big guns…my mixer. Oh mixer, how I love thee! I wish I was able to see pictures of the dough because I was a little nervous when I poured it out onto my baking sheet.

But my cookies baked up puffy and bright. Actually, they would be perfect to make sandwiches if you stuffed them full of frosting or ice cream…Mmm! The cookbook doesn’t lie as they are some really BIG cookies!

They aren’t the most attractive looking batch, but totally worth giving them a try this fall!

I ended up with more than enough cookies for Thanksgiving and a few for the BOY and I this week : )

He has wants me to add that they should be called ‘muffin tops’ but I tried to explain that might make them even less attractive…ha ha! Before this batch was cooled, I had already whipped up a second bowl of dough…

But I’m going to leave you hanging on that recipe!

With the weather turning cool, I was craving a comfort style meal. Blame it on this weekend’s trip to the city for fried chicken (the BOY’s favorite chicken place just opened in Chicago) or the fact that Thanksgiving is next week…I dunno!

But, I have a hearty chicken and veggie recipe in the crockpot now, so I’ll let you know how it turns out!

What’s your favorite Thanksgiving dessert?

I LOVE Sweet Potato Pie (which we had with our fried chicken this weekend)!

Pumpkin Butterscotch Chip Cookies

From Big Fat Cookies by Elinor Klivans

Ingredients

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1-1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp ground cinnamon

2 large eggs

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup canola oil

1 cup canned pumpkin

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup butterscotch chips

Directions

Preheat the oven to 325°. Line two baking sheets with parchment, then butter the parchment.

In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.

In a large bowl, beat the eggs and sugar together with an electric mixer for about 1 minute on medium speed, until it’s smooth and a light yellow color. Scrape the bowl as needed.

With the mixer on low speed, add the oil, pumpkin and vanilla and mix until smooth. Add in the flour mixture until incorporated, then stir in the butterscotch chips.

Use a 1/4-cup capacity ice cream scoop or a 1/4 cup measuring cup to scoop the dough into mounds onto the prepared baking sheets. Space the mounds about 2-1/2" apart. Smooth the tops of the mounds with a spatula if desired.

Bake the cookies for about 16 minutes, switching racks and rotating the pans about halfway through the baking time. When done, the cookies will feel firm and a toothpick inserted into the center should come out clean and dry. Cool the cookies on the baking sheets, then move to a wire rack to cool completely.

If desired, dust the tops with powdered sugar.

Store in an airtight container for up to 4 days, if they last that long.

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6 thoughts on “Soft Pants, Baking, and Comfort Food”

Fun!!!! Do the cookies still taste “fresh” after they have been frozen? I have never tried freezing them before!!! (I did freeze our wedding cookies to eat on our first anniversary)
My favorite Thanksgiving dessert: pumpkin whoopee pies!!? I’m not huge into Thanksgiving or the desserts!! So its a hard one! 🙂

Oh I LOVE those! Yum! I think that cookies do great out of the freezer. I usually do a bunch of holiday cookies and then freeze them and pass them along a few weeks later. You just have to package them up tight : ) We froze our pie for the 1 year…not sure how that will do but its worth a shot!

Being Me

Welcome to my page! I am a 30 year old living in suburbia struggling to balance a full-time job in health care, healthy eating, and exercise along with all the other fun things I enjoy. I love to bake, run, travel, practice yoga, take pictures, cook, and share it all with you.

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